Clarkson, a big, bombastic chain-smoking newspaper columnist, is one of the best-known commentators in the U.K.

Credit: CBS/Aaron Tomlinson

"Top Gear" co-host Richard Hammond chats with correspondent Steve Kroft. The interview took place in July 2010 at a London pub called "The Defectors Weld."

Credit: CBS/Aaron Tomlinson

Steve Kroft talks with "Top Gear" co-host James May. Even though he has clocked nearly 260 miles per hour in a Bugatti, his colleagues call him "Captain Slow" for his pedantic, professorial bearing and absent-minded behavior.

Credit: CBS/Aaron Tomlinson

The set of "Top Gear" is in a hangar on an RAF air base, RAF Dunsfold Airfield in Surrey.

Credit: CBS/Graham Messick

This beauty is a Toyota pickup truck the producers and hosts of "Top Gear" have tried in vain to destroy. After it survived a building implosion, the truck got a place of honor on the set.

Credit: CBS/Graham Messick

"Top Gear" has a fourth co-host, known as "The Stig," but he never talks. Really.

Credit: CBS/Graham Messick

Yes - wear a helmet! Producer Michael Karzis assists Steve Kroft with his racing helmet as he prepares to take a spin with the Stig.

Credit: CBS/Graham Messick

The Stig took Steve Kroft on a 130-mile-per-hour in a Camaro on the show's test track.